Great read but what a drastic difference concerning "enough rig for the gig". Would be interesting to know how truly effective that rig was for the size of the venue. By todays standards, that would be a rig for about 2000 people. Would be an even greater "debate-starter" if it was deemed to have worked just fine. Certainly the folks in the front-third or so could probably hear just fine, what about the back 40?

Great read but what a drastic difference concerning "enough rig for the gig". Would be interesting to know how truly effective that rig was for the size of the venue. By todays standards, that would be a rig for about 2000 people. Would be an even greater "debate-starter" if it was deemed to have worked just fine. Certainly the folks in the front-third or so could probably hear just fine, what about the back 40?

One thing that many/most people forget-is that the "gig" was not supposed to be that large. The system was designed for a much smaller crowd-but the event grew.

As Bill Hanley tols us once-there were delay towers out in the crowd. But they weren't used-because something happened with the tape deck that was going to be used as a delay device.

ALso the SPL levels of concerts back then was not as loud as today. Probably because they couldn't get as loud as we can. Lack of large amps and high power capacity loudspeakers. Remember that a 300 watt/channel amp was a VERY LARGE amp back then.

My first systems were run on lots of 100 watt amps that I built. I remember when I got my first BIG amp-a Peavey CS800. I felt I had "arrived" and that would be all the power I would ever need for bass. And I was doing mostly hard rock at the time. Oh how the times have changed. Before long it wasn't enough to do monitors well.

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A complex question is easily answered by a simple-easy to understand WRONG answer!

Ivan,Things were harder, but there was less complaining about how tough it was, that was just the way it was.On my first show as a partner with a "professional" sound company, Eclipse Concert Systems (AKA "Collapse Concert Systems"), I was instructed the first thing out of the truck was the tool box, and I should plug in the soldering iron so it would be ready for immediate use..

While my partners and stagehands assembled the system, I was busy using various spare parts and cutting up short XLR cords to make several microphone "Y" cords needed to cover Taj Mahal's input list, many channels more than our console.

After a few years, I struck out on my own starting a company called Southern Thunder Sound, and built a system that falls just on the tail end of Doug's 1979 cut off, pictured below with the “Enterprise”, a 24’ straight truck that was owned by Jefferson Starship, then the band Heartsfeild, then myself.Many of the components from that system are still in use in various places around the upper mid west.

Most of the major systems at that time were DIY, note the Terry Hanley intercom in the ”Road System Inventory”.

The end of the 1970’s heralded a change from large, ultra efficient horn systems to more dense pack systems that used double (or more) the amplifier power but only required half the truck space. Still using horn loaded cabinets, the STS/Welter Systems of 1981 were equal in output to the 1979 system using half the space. By 1987, speaker size was 1/3, which left more room for (relatively) light weight lighting equipment. This helped, as the weight density of speaker systems was now enough to make any truck legally overweight if completely filled with sound only. The Enterprise on occasion was almost double legal capacity, we learned the routes required to avoid weigh stations.

Now my 2005 system can fit in a 5x8 trailer and equal the output (except in the mid bass/low mid frequencies) of the 1979 24' truck filling system.

Of course, people are used to systems much louder than in the "olden days", car subs have more power than concert systems used back then.

Art Welter

I find it interesting that while that 70's PA may look like a bronchiasaur today, the mic kit remains respectable!

I find it interesting that while that 70's PA may look like a bronchiasaur today, the mic kit remains respectable!

Transducers have made little advancement since the days of old, though it is possible to get good sounding microphones for a fraction of the cost we paid for that kit back then.Though there has been great advances in woofers Xmax potential, allowing 6-10 dB more output (using about 8 to 12 times more power) HF transducers have made virtually no advances in terms of high output with low distortion.

Most of the HF drivers from the STS dinosaur picture are probably still in use.